The Circle of Algebra...

Scene: Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's.

A (poking at his hamburger): "J, I don't want to go to school."

J (a little surprised): "Why not?"

A (mater-of-factly): "I already know everything."

G.J. (laying a trap with the stealth of a lioness on the Serengeti): "Oh, do you know how to do algebra?"

A (like a springbok caught in headlights): "What's algebra?"

G.J (pouncing): "Ah-ha!"

G.H (pointing): "See! See!"

(A nearly launches from his chair in surprise)

J (laughing): "They got you, bud...."

Please Don't Let Me Be One of Those Parents...

Scene: The park. A is running of with H to a far corner from the sandbox area, where the parents are.

J (yelling across the park): "A, come back; we want you to stay near us."

A (yelling back): "No. H says I have to go around the pool."

J (realizing he's yelling across the park): "H is not your father. Let's not yell this discussion across the park."

A: "Let's!" (turns to run after H...)

Bathtime with William Blake

Scene A is taking a Very Long Bath while J reads "The Collected Works of William Blake" to him. Having dispensed with "The Tyger," "The Poison Tree," and what Mr. Blake was talking about when he "had a pretty little rose tree," we are moving forward to other poems.

A (while filling a plastic duck with water): "J, find one that's really weird."

J (flipping around the book): "Okay..." (looking for something that's only about twenty-four lines long...) "Oh. Here. -- Wow, buddy, this one was written in 1808, it's over two hundred years old. (Straightens up on the toilet).

TO THE QUEEN

The Door of Death is made of Gold, / That Mortal --"

A: "J! J! Does that mean that it's made of gold and when you touch it, you die?!"

J (smiling slightly at the Aladdin reference): "No, I don't think that's what it means, let's see what the rest of the poem says..."


The scene continues, concluding with a faux-British accent rendition of "And did those feet in ancient times / Walk upon England's mountains green..."
. . .

A: "J, is William Blake a little over the top?"

J: "Well... yeah."

Long Term Pirate Time-Out

A had been warned by M. He karate chopped another kid at the playground, and the result is that all things piratical have been boxed. The pirate figures, the treasure maps, the tricorns hats, the pirate books, the doubloons, the boats -- they're all going into storage because pirates are a bad influence that teach us to be violent.

So. Please refrain from sending piratical items for a month -- until the Equinox.

Bowling for Children

A couple of weeks M and A went bowling. They had a good time, so all of us went this evening.

A got a lot of gutter balls, so we asked for the bumpers.

M and J broke 100 (barely) the first game.

We won't discuss the second game...

Theological Drama

Scene: The Living Room. J is doing his morning stretching exercises and A is preparing to go out.

A: "J, I think God is too dramatic, so I'm just going to pray for myself."

J: "God is too dramatic; what do you mean?"

A: "Well, God is all about love right?"

J: "Yeah."

A: "And love makes people cry when they're happy."

J: "So that's why God is too dramatic?"

A: "Yeah."

Skiing!

M and A went skiing. They had a lot of fun. I'm not sure if there are any pictures, A says there are and I'll have to convince M to send them over.

M says that A waved and said, "HI!" to everyone while they were on the ski lift and that for all ten-plus runs that they did, A sang Jingle Bells at the top of his voice.

M says A has good balance.